Welcome to the Fishing Report from Townsend, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains. At 4:46 am, the temperature is 69 degrees.

It will be mostly cloudy today with a high temperature in the upper 80’s and a chance for showers and thunderstorms. It will be breezy today with a southeast wind of 5 to 15 miles per hour and gusts to 20 miles per hour. Some thunderstorms may be strong to severe.

There is a 40% chance for thunderstorms tomorrow with a high in the middle to upper 80’s.

Little River is flowing at 129 cubic feet per second (cfs) or 1.75 feet on the gauge. Median flow for this date is 129 cfs. The water temperature is 67.8 degrees this morning. Yesterday, the water temperature peaked at 70 degrees at 4:45 pm. These readings are at the low elevation USGS gauge site near Townsend.

Most streams in the mountains are flowing right at normal with some flowing slightly above normal. Water temperatures will be warm in the low elevations today. Fish in the higher elevations where the water is cooler.

Fly fishing for trout is good. They are taking dry flies and nymphs. A dry and dropper rig is a good choice. Ideal dry fly patterns include foam beetles or Yellow Sally Stonefly imitations. Drop a Green Weenie or an ant pattern off your dry fly. Stealth is paramount to your success. Dress to blend with the forest to help avoid detection. Trout will be hiding in the broken water or near cover. Don’t spook the trout and get a good drift. You should do well.

Fishing for stocked trout is good in some low elevation rivers, especially those that are cooler. Small nymphs are good fly choices.

Smallmouth bass fishing in the lowland rivers is good. Flows are near normal. It will likely be overcast today which is helpful. Streamers, crayfish patterns, foam floating flies and poppers are all good fly choices.

Overcast days are good lake fishing days and this is predicted to be one of them. It might be breezy at times. Cast streamers, swimming nymphs, foam floating flies or poppers to the banks or cover. Watch for fish attacking shad schools on the surface, which often happens on cloudy days. Plankton rises to the surface on overcast days. Shad follow the plankton. Gamefish follow the shad. Watch for approaching thunderstorms.

Visit the TVA website to see what tailwater fishing options you have today. There are a lot of generation schedules you can work with. The Corps and TVA will be generating for long periods this afternoon at several dams.

Plenty of rainfall last week showed much improvement in East Tennessee on the US Drought Monitor. There are some areas that are deemed to be abnormally dry. Areas bordering the mountains are shown as being normal.

Have a great day and thank you for being here with us.

Byron Begley
July 3, 2023

BIG CLINCH RIVER CLEANUP TO BE HELD SATURDAY JULY 8TH

The Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited is asking for help from the public, to join in and participate in this year’s annual river cleanup. During the past 25 years, volunteers have removed more than 6,000 tires and more than 10 tons of trash from the Clinch River Tailwater at this event. You can read more about the cleanup on the WBIR website by CLICKING HERE.

You can register as a volunteer on the Clinch River Chapter website by CLICKING HERE.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Parking Tags are now required to park your vehicle inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 15 minutes. Tags may be purchased at Visitors Centers, including the center in Townsend. Or, they may be purchased online. You can buy a daily, weekly or annual tag. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Respond to: byron@littleriveroutfitters.com